I have one dog that is a tad neutotic. He is a pretty submissive, kind of fearful little guy and he has developed a new behavior I need suggestions with:

When the people in my family put their shoes on to leave the house, he barks wildly at them. I'm the only one he does not do it to.

I'm guessing, from what I've observed, that it is some form of seperation anxiety, but we're at a loss as to what to do. I do wear shoes around the house to try and show him that shoes are o.k., , but no one else in the family does. I do give him treats whenever I leave, but I'm reluctant to suggest the other family members give him a treat when they leave, as he barks at them the whole time their putting their shoes on and I don't want to reinforce the behavior. He does get treats from them intermittently, though, if he didn't bark like crazy when they were putting their shoes on.

I would start with the obedience portion. teach him that it is absolutely unacceptable to act like that. Long downs tend to get the message across. "If you act like an idiot you will park your butt for 5 minutes"

Are you his primary caregiver? It may be a respect thing. He leaves you alone because he knows you're in charge. He may be annoying everyone else just to be annoying - or to beg for the treats that you give him and no one else does.

Michelle

Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.

I don't think it's treat begging, because although he loves treats, he's not a treat junkie like my other dog.

We've done the "down/stay," but he'll keep barking in the down/stay, .

I'm pretty sure it's a seperation anxiety issue, because he's not a pushy or dominant dog, and he's ordinarily pretty well behaved. I just can't figure out quite how to break the pattern. I did tell the rest of the family today to leave their shoes on around the house, or atleast to start putting them on way before they plan on leaving the house. Seems to have helped a bit, because the issue is the actual putting on of the shoes.

Well, he knows both "quiet" and "stop"---and he will do both, but those shoes . . . as soon as he sees them being tied, etc., he starts again. If you give him either command, he will stop, but eventually he starts again.

Try having them put their shoes on and get ready to go out. If he starts barking, just keep putting the shoes on. Once you have them on, take him out on leash and go for a walk. Come home after about 15 minutes, and put him right back into the kennel.

Take the shoes off in front of him. Wait 5 minutes, put them back on, if he starts barking again give him the Quiet/Enough command, and walk out.

It might be that he's anticipating some fun times outside of the house and he needs to learn that yes, SOMETIMES, the shoes are for him to go have fun, but if it's not for him he doesn't need to act like that.

Weda does this on occasion. It's mainly because she knows when I'm putting my shoes on, it means that we are going for a bike ride, which she loves beyond anything.

The above instructions are far from complete. I just don't have the time to be detailed, and it might look a little incomplete, but you get the idea. Give him something that he wants, but he needs to respect when you aren't doing it either.

I'll try and write it out a little better this evening. It actually looks pretty weak re-reading it, but it should give you an idea.